Last season the Dolphins broke the NFL norm and gave players off on Thursdays instead of the usual Tuesdays. Coach Joe Phiblin’s thinking was that players would be better rested if they had a day off later in the week.

But this season he’s completely changing course. Dolphins players will be off Mondays. That was once common in the NFL, but in recent years teams have made Tuesdays the off day so they can evaluate player injuries on Mondays.

The Eagles last year, under new coach Chip Kelly, made Mondays the day off. Dolphins offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was Philly’s quarterbacks coach last season so perhaps he endorsed the schedule.

“Our strength and conditioning guys researched a lot of things, we talked to different people and studied what we did last year, some of the good things we thought we did and some of the not so good,” Philbin said of the schedule.

Philbin still likes Thomas: It’s no secret that Dolphins running back Daniel Thomas hasn’t lived up to his second round selection in 2011.

But don’t count him off this roster yet.

Philbin said he believes Thomas, who is coming off a hamstring injury, can play in new offensive coordinator John Benton’s zone blocking scheme.

“I think he’s a good fit,” Philbin said. “I thought he was having a good camp and hopefully we can get him some game action soon.”

Last year the Dolphins kept just three running backs on the roster. But they have some big decisions to make in the next week. Knowshon Moreno and Lamar Miller are locks to make the team. And then there’s Thomas, undrafted rookie Damien Williams (who has been playing well) and second-year back Mike Gillislee, who has been out with a hamstring injury.

“I don’t want to get pigeon-holed to say we’re going to keep four, we’re only going to keep three or five,” Philbin said. “It could be five.”

Tannehill hearts Gibson: Even with receiver Brandon Gibson coming off a patellar tendon tear, his chemistry with quarterback Ryan Tannehill has remained strong this preseason.

Philbin isn’t surprised.

“He’s a quarterback friendly guy,” Philbin said of Gibson. “He has very good hands. He’s smart. He can read coverages… I think the quarterbacks, most of them get pretty comfortable with him pretty quickly.”

Philbin said Gibson’s injury was “significant” but that he’s worked hard in the offseason to get back to form.

“It’s taken some time, no question about that,” Philbin said. “I think we did a good job managing some of his repetitions early in camp. He now looks to be hopefully rounding to form. I thought he played well the other night and hopefully that will continue. We’re still monitoring the reps. We don’t want to give him too many yet.”

Humidity advantage over the Pats? It’s going to be hot and humid when the Dolphins host the Pats opening week.

So does that give Miami an advantage? Not necessarily.

“The weather is an advantage only when you’re blocking well, tackling well and playing good solid fundamental football,” Philbin said.